Okay fine, this is a formation for ants… but while the details are up in the air, at least we can make out the title of the formation as “The Eight” and it looks a lot like the one from the Farsight Enclave book.
Although in this picture they are standing on and around some of new Tau Defensive structures from the Tidewall. This makes sense thematically given reference material. “A very small band of elite warriors making a valiant stand against an overwhelming number of foes.” Sound familiar? It should! It was really made famous by this movie and has be retold time and time again – who doesn’t like a good underdog story!?
What made this formation special was that all 8 members were Unique Special Characters and as such each character had the Independent Character special rule. They also had access to duplicate Signature Systems and the limit on those systems did not apply to this unit – another neat trick they had! I guess we will have to wait to see how much of that carries over into the updated version – but based on the codex release, I’m guessing quite a bit!
Guess what else Kurosawa may have also inspired: STAR WARS
The Eight are BACK! Episode 26 – GW : The CEO’s New Groove
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of LostSouls.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.